Justice that is administered with prejudice or without equity is not justice.
From the Charlotte Observer, an op-ed by Julian Bond:
Convinced he was receiving signals from Oprah Winfrey and Dan Rather through his television, Guy Tobias LeGrande fired his attorneys and, wearing a Superman T-shirt, represented himself in the trial for his life. The State of North Carolina plans to execute LeGrande Dec. 1.
It is now universally acknowledged that capital defendants are entitled to competent defense lawyers. Why did North Carolina allow this seriously mentally ill man to represent himself?
In the last few years, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that some offenders — juveniles and those with mental retardation — are less morally culpable, and for that reason should not be subjected to the death penalty.
Last August, the American Bar Association, in concert with the American Psychiatric and Psychological Associations, formally recommended that people with serious mental illness should not be eligible for execution if the illness prevents them from “exercis[ing] rational judgment in relation to conduct.” Under that standard, LeGrande should not be executed.
Unfair from the start
LeGrande’s case is the appalling story of zealous prosecutors exploiting a mentally ill man. Although I have seen progress in race relations in my lifetime, it is an undeniable fact that racism continues to play an insidious role in our criminal justice system. LeGrande’s exploitation was even more shameful because that same racism enveloped his case, creating an unfair climate from the start.LeGrande is black. The two men who planned every detail of the murder for which LeGrande faces execution are white. The central facts of the crime are not disputed. Tommy Munford harassed his wife for years and told even casual acquaintances that he wanted to “do [her] in.” He tried to recruit at least three people to kill her, offering to pay them from the proceeds of an insurance policy he had on her life. He established an alibi for himself by taking his two small children to the beach while she was killed.
Munford told the white man with whom he had planned the murder and who provided the murder weapon that he had found a “n—– from Wadesboro” to kill his wife. As a result of decisions by the prosecutors, this “n—– from Wadesboro” was the only person to face the death penalty for the murder.
Prosecutors freely acknowledged that Munford was the mastermind and driving force behind the murder. Nevertheless, they offered Munford an extraordinary deal for his testimony fingering LeGrande as the triggerman: Munford pled guilty to charges that leave him eligible for parole. The other white accomplice and co-conspirator was not even charged. [full text]
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